


Life in the Dungeons

by Im_Here_I_Guess



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Gryffindor, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon, Post-War, Slytherin, The Golden Trio
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27336526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Im_Here_I_Guess/pseuds/Im_Here_I_Guess
Summary: After the war, the would-be graduates of Hogwarts were given the opportunity to come back for an eighth year to complete their time, however due to it being mere months since the war ended, and what with the Gryffindor tower being damaged so greatly, and how many Slytherins instead chose to leave the country or switch to home-learning methods instead, Headmistress McGonagall decided that it would be best for the Gryffindors and remaining Slytherins to live together in the dungeons, as they were mostly undamaged.Unfortunately, both houses were heavily against this idea and, despite their own wishes, now have to deal with the consequences as the headmistress dealt with the backlash.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Minor or Background Relationship(s), if you're looking for romance don't come here but there will be some moments
Kudos: 1





	1. Errol Excerpt I (The Weasley Family Create Some Theories)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic I've ever written so try not to be too judgemental, but I'm happy to accept criticism in he comments! 
> 
> I got the idea of Gryffindors and Slytherins living in the dungeons for Eighth year from TheMischiefManagers' on their YouTube channel (you should definitely check them out if you like Harry Potter, or even if you don't particularly anymore (like me))
> 
> Hopefully you enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Weasley morning plan:  
> • Have breakfast  
> • Read mail  
> • Buy school supplies  
> • THEORISE!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't come for me, first fanfic and all that. Hopefully will be beta-read by at least one of my lovely friends (haven't actually asked yet but ya know) so uh yeah. I don't know when I will update this, as it is really writing practice more than anything else, but I will aim for at least one chapter a week. Enjoy!

Wind rushing. Aching limbs. A family of red heads hidden behind an invisible screen. 

Flap.

Flap.

Flap.

Muffled laughter from the group, though somber in how loud it was Before. The smell of breakfast streaming out the window. A weight on the leg of the screeching creature that was constantly nearing them.

Whack!

* * *

"Errol!" 

Mrs Weasley bustled over to the window, plucking the owl up from where it had hit the window, carefully taking off the letters attached to its leg and placing them on the table, letting the owl float onto the counter. 

"Oh, you poor sod" The mother muttered in pity at the bird.

"Why don't we just get a new one?" Ron queried from his place between Hermione and Harry, the two non-Weasleys having been invited to stay for the holidays.

"Oh, you know we can't do that, Ronald, we've had Errol for years now." Molly scolded without any bite beneath her words.

"Whatever."

Ginny grabbed the letters on the table, handing them to the appropriate people as she glanced at them; "Hogwarts letters have arrived, should we buy supplies today?"

"I was planning on going to Diagon Alley to see if there were any recipe books by Mayflower Scotch I could get" Mrs Wesley mused as she brought several plates over to the sink and set up them to wash, not noticing her children glancing at each other, well aware of how much she had baked after the war - and especially, Fred's death.

Looking back to the letter in her hand, Ginny spoke again: "huh."

Her boyfriend leaned over her shoulder and "hm?"-ed. 

"Hey," The girl began, gaining the attention of most of her family once more, "you know how there was that attack on Hogwarts a few months back? And how Gryffindor Tower was damaged from it and how we all wondered how that was going to be sorted?"

The Weasleys nodded, curious.

"Well, listen to this:" She put on a different voice, higher and sillier than her own, "'Dear Witches, Wizards and Warlocks of Gryffindor House–'"

"Warlocks? What's that meant to mean?" Ron interrupted loudly.

"I think it's just being inclusive." Hermione clarified, before whispering something in Ron's ear, causing him to blush.

With an eyeroll, Ginny continued, "'Over the summer, there was a great attack on the school - the deatheaters who performed the act were recently caught and sentenced - that added further damage to the school, especially Gryffindor Tower where the event happened–" 

"Uh, Gin, I love you but is there a point to this? We already know all this." 

Glaring mildy at her boyfriend, Ginny muttered a single "Wait for a second, Merlin's Beard you'd think you'd have a bit of patience" before she continued, again.

"yada yada yada, there's some stuff basically just relaying what the Daily Prophet said on it... and here! This is the interesting part: 'Due to the offenses taken against Gryffindor Tower, it has been rendered unusable for the time being. As such, the rooming of Gryffindors has been changed to accomodate the needs of the students and we, as a school, believe it to be the best decision we could have made with the shortage of time we had to prepare.'" Ginny finished, excitedly looking up to see her family's reactions, disappointed to only see confusion. "And then it just goes on with the usual hogwarts ramble on the letters." She ended, bored by the rest of it.

"Huh." Bill, who had been quiet until now, voiced everyone's thoughts eloquently. "So I guess that means you'll be stuck somewhere else in the castle."

"But where?" Charlie muttered from Bill's right. "It's not like they can just uproot half the castle to create more space for the Gryffindors."

Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione, now calmed down from their earlier Thing, and tries to catch their eye, attempting to raise an eyebrow. "There is somewhere in the castle that could in theory fit all the Gryffindors..."

Hermione scrunched up her face in thought, considering what he had said before realising what he was referencing and gave him a Look. "You don't seriously think they'd let us have free roam of the Room of Requirement, do you?" She asked, countering whatever he was about to say.

"I mean... they might?" Harry murmured weakly.

"Uh huh, sure, and Rita Skeeter will tell a boring story." Hermione replied scornfully.

"Ugh, let's just buy our stuff." Moaned the dark-haired teenager, knowing that this was a fight he wouldn't win.

* * *

"Slytherins at 12 O'clock." Ron muttered to his best friend, avoiding looking at the direction himself. Harry looked, spotting Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini stood outside some non-descript bookshop that Hermione would probably be insulted he didn't know the name of. "What are they even doing altogether, like that?" Ron continued, "it makes them look more suspicious."

"Suspicious of what?" Harry countered, even though the appearance of his peers put him on edge in a way he couldn't quite explain.

"oh come on, mate, you can't look at them" he jabbed a finger in their direction, giving up on subtlety, "and tell me they don't look like they're up to something."

"It looks. Like they're buying books for school."

"Yeah, but why are all of them together if they're just buying supplies?" The redhead frowned, seeing that the group had spotted them and were avoiding his glare.  
"I don't know, but to be honest, I don't really want to know either. If they are up to something, it'll find us somehow; trouble always does." Harey sighed heavily. "Anyway, we still need to find where Hermione is, and meet up with George, too."  
"Yeah, yeah, let's go." Ron agreed, still staring at the Slytherins but turning the orher way as the two boys walked up the street, glancing anywhere their friend might be.

* * *

"Definitely in the bathrooms, probably with Myrtle."

"George!"

"Ron! Harry! Good to see you!"

"What were you just talking about?" Ron asked, having only caught the end of the conversation between Ginny and her older brother. 

"How have you been?" Hermione, now caught up with the two boys, asked neutrally.

"Oh we were talking about where the Gryffindors are gonna be staying." George stated cheerfully, blatantly ignoring the girl's question on his health.

"What? No way!" Harry laughed, admittedly slightly awkwardly since he didn't know how to treat George when he acted so normally.

"True true. They wouldn't leave you with Myrtle..." The twin's smile dropped as he looked to his left, as if there should be something there - which, of course, there should have been. "Uh, yeah, they won't put you with Myrtle! Because you'll be with the centaurs instead!"

The group laughed nervously, unsure of how they should react to the misstep from before.

"Really? You don't think they'll separate the boys and girls?" Ginny nudged him, being the first to try to say something.

"Ha, yeah..." 

The conversation grew tense for a moment before something blew up above their heads,. "Woah! Can't trust those prototypes, am I right?" George chuckled calmly, completely undisturbed by the sparks near his face.

The conversation drifted for a bit longer until Ginny joked about something or other, and Harry joined in, causing Ron to join and they ending up in laughter and they continued as beforee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... kinda hate this? It's much better than my first draft obviously, but I'm still not happy with it. Whatever, tell me what you thought and I'll probably write some more of the next chapter tonight. (Please comment)
> 
> Next chapter will open at Hogwarts! That's where the story will actually pick up.
> 
> Update on the next chapter which I am *definitely* working on: I actually really like it! I definitely plan on using these random OCs I accidentally created in the process and it's way longer than this chapter too!


	2. Fascinating Feasting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> McGonagall makes an announcement, much to the chagrin of everyone, and the Slytherins are sus (like that's any new)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoy this WAY more than the last chapter! It's decent and mildly good in some places!
> 
> (Also don't come for me for that one Hufflepuff's name, you'll know which one)

The Great Hall. Massive, impressive and forboding for the children coming to Hogwarts for the first time. Merely massive for the older students.

A young girl, one of the only ten who came to Hogwarts to experience her first year, as many parents felt it unsafe after the attack some months earlier, whispered to a Hufflepuff as she passed them: "Is it true? Will Gryffindors be stuck with you lot? Or did they find the somewhere better?"

The Hufflepuff, a fourth year with the nickname Beanstalk for reasons unexplained, responded politely to the young girl, "What the fuck? I hope they found somewhere else, we don't have much space after Maddison blew up the second year's beds!"

"I– What?"

A boy sitting opposite Beanstalk leaned over, "Trust me, kid, don't ask."

"Don't need to tell me twice," The girl muttered quietly, as she sped up to join the rest of the first years making their way down the hall.

As she joined her peers, the headmistress stood up, and, that was where things started to get weird.

* * *

"Come on, Draco! We're already late for the feast!" Pansy Parkinson grabbed the blond's arm, pulling towards the great doors of the Great Hall.

"Hence why we should just wait outside or go to the common room and pretend we were always there." Despite the complaint and the pleas of both parties, he found himself shaking off the other's arms and following her.

"You're insane."

"It runs in the family."

"Ugh!" The girl flung herself away from her friend and clutched the wall in dramatics few knew she had, and wailed, "OH DRACO! We're trying to start anew here! We have to try our hardest to do good deeds... something something something, basically explaining why we need to sneak into the hall so as not to miss anything." She stepped away from the wall, and stared at her best friend expectantly.

"...Were you quoting Anita Trunsnip's new book you picked up the other day?"

"Maybe... but! Think of it this way: we're not protagonists, no one's gonna notice if we arrive at the right time."

"What?" Bemused, Draco looked up at Pansy and stared.

"We're not important to other people's lives, we're not protagonists."

"Ok?"

"So you agree! Now let's get in–"

"Woah woah woah" The blond cut in, "when did I agree to anything?"  
Pansy sighed irritably and cast a silencing charm to hide their sounds before–

Three Gryffindors walked by. Three very specific Gryffindors. Who were already deeply suspicious of Slytherins.

"Shit." Malfoy enunciated profoundly.

* * *

The headmistress stood up, grandiose in her robes, and, picked up an old hat. Which then started singing. Things started getting weird indeed.

After the hat stopped singing, McGonagall faced the first years and began a speech. A speech about Hogwarts, and how it would hold the best years of their lives and will hopefully be something they will look back on fondly when they're grown. Or something.

It was unclear to the girl who had previously spoken to the Hufflepuffs, as she had spent most of the time staring at the folds in the hat, seeing how the stitching of it created a mouth, and generally being too confused to hear much of what was being said.

Until names started being called out by the imposing headmistress. "Beatrice Adelia?"

A petite girl with flourescent purple hair sprang up to the chair where the hat stood and sat down, allowing for the hat to be placed upon her head. It seemed to ponder for a few moments before it shouted to the hall: "GRYFFINDOR"

Cheers erupted from a table at the far right and the girl's hair changed rapidly between purple, green and a startling crimson mane. The cheers became louder at the surprise of having a metamorphmagus.

The headmistress looked back towards the group of nervous first years and called out a second name: "Henry Arrowsmith."

The boy who leapt forward at that was quickly sorted into Ravenclaw and he punched his fist in the air, causing some chuckles from across the hall.

"Aiden Carl", a boy with golden waves half-way down his back and large glasses covering his face, was placed in Hufflepuff and sat immediately next to Beanstalk who clapped the boy on the back and almost knocked him off the bench.

As cheers quieted, the professor looked down at the sheet and opened her mouth.

"Matilda Crowthorne."

The young girl jumped and quickly steeled herself as she stepped up to the hat.

Her senses muffled as it was placed on her head and she almost jumped out of her skin when she heard muttering inside her brain. "Hm, oh this will be an easy one, it's almost too obvious."

Suddenly the muttering grew to unbearable volumes as the hat yelled out "GRYFFINDOR!" Causing the girl to almost fall off the stool she sat on.

Taking off the hat, she sped over to the Gryffindor table, trying very hard to not think about how she was in the same house as teenage war heroes.

She sat next to Beatrice, the metamorphmagus whose hair was still changing between varying colours and styles, and continued to watch the ceremony, seeing as "Isabelle Gurnsley" was sorted into Ravenclaw, along with "Jacob Morrow", and the remaining four students were split between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Strangely there were no Slytherins.

After the entire process was done, being significantly shorter than past years' ceremonies, the headmistress stayed standing, claiming she had one more announcement before the feast could truly begin.

"As mentioned in the letters, there will be some changing to the Gryffindor dormitories this year, due to the damage sustained over the summer."

Students all around the hall leaned in as she spoke, curious as to where the house could be sleeping, and the woman continued.

"It is a decision that has been difficult and complicated but we believe it is the best that we can manage at the moment. You may have heard rumours of them staying with another house, well I am here to clear it up. It is true, Gryffindor will share common rooms and dormitories with another house."

Silence shrouded the hall and the air became thick with tension and curiosity.

"The house is, I'm afraid the only one which holds the capacity for all of the students, and only then just barely." The headmistress imperceptibly straightened her back and gazed at the students around her. "The area that the Gryffindors will be living in will be the Slytherin Dungeo–"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as masses of students yelled out in shock and disbelief.

"Is she serious?"

"She can't be! Can she?"

"I mean, it makes sense, but what the fuck?"

Amongst all the commotion, no one noticed as three Gryffindors slipped in quietly, muttering about two Slytherins who had run away in the other direction as soon as they realised they were spotted.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok it's been a while since I posted the first chapter, and btw I like this less aftwr reading it through but!  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> That's it. I got nothing to say really.


End file.
